Chase Freedom UPDATE

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

My DBF got a pre approval from Chase in the mail (he has been getting one in the mail every week). The letter says he has been pre approved and has a intro rate of 0%, apr of 11.9% etc. He wasnt going to bite but the offer received yest says that $150 cash back after 1st purchase. My question is, does this pre approved offer mean anything? Its got a promo code and looks very personalized for him. He doesnt wanna apply if there is no chance of approval. If this pre approved offer is written in stone and guarantees the card that he would consider because the bonus $150 is a lot of money.

His Hist... Eq is probably 740's, EX is 745 (PSECU FICO) and last time he checked TU was 6 months ago FICO (755). AAOA is 2 years and he has other CC's - 20K PSECU, 10.5K CITI, 8K BofA, 5K Penfed etc....

What do you guys think? Does the pre approval in the mail mean anything?

Thanks...

Edited to Update everyone - DBF finally applied to Chase Freedom today through a pre approval he received in the mail. The latest pre approval was better - $200 cashback after only first purchase. Called Chase to verify and rep said yes - will get 20K points good for $200 cash back and the first purchase can be any amount.

Anyway, Apped online - after pressing submit, 5 seconds later "You're Approved" message appeared... Called CSR to see initial CL - hold your breath - $10.4K.

I hope this info helps.

[thrasher865]

I don't see why he wouldn't be approved with what info you've given us, whether that is truly preapproved or not.  Does the offer say pre approved, not preselected?  If so, it's my understanding that this generally means you are at least extremely likely to be approved, if not guarunteed.

I would go for it if this is a card he wants.  When I was approved for Freedom my scores were in the low 700s, but it was also 2.5 years ago before this whole credit meltdown.  I would say it's a fairly safe bet.  How many inquiries?  Any recently opened accounts?

[cdtotten]

The pre-approval truly doesn't mean anything; only that his credit meets vague profiles set forth by chase for mailer purposes.

That being said, with the information you have provided he would most likely be approved for the Freedom card. I have one myself, and love it. Good card, good rewards, and has grown from $5,000 to $12,500 automatically for me over the past 5 years.

As a general note, I don't believe there is any difference at all between pre-approved, pre-selected or any of that other garbage they throw out. As you can tell by reading the terms, they will pull your credit no matter what when you apply and if they don't like what they see, they will turn you down. CCCs pay CRAs for lists of consumers that meet certain credit guidelines that they are interested in (give me a list of all individuals with a score higher than this, with util under this, etc.). Don't put any weight into what you receive in the mail.

[wollepopolle]

I assume he would probably be approved. I was rejected with EQ Fico of 764 but that was, among other reasons, because of one recent inquiry. I'd say unless your husband has a recent inquiry, he should go ahead if he wants the card. Chase seems to be very, very inquiry sensitive to some. But then, I've read about others who were approved with a couple of inquiries on their reports. Nobody sees through their approval algorithms.

[vish1]

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@cdtotten wrote:

The pre-approval truly doesn't mean anything; only that his credit meets vague profiles set forth by chase for mailer purposes.

That being said, with the information you have provided he would most likely be approved for the Freedom card. I have one myself, and love it. Good card, good rewards, and has grown from $5,000 to $12,500 automatically for me over the past 5 years.

As a general note, I don't believe there is any difference at all between pre-approved, pre-selected or any of that other garbage they throw out. As you can tell by reading the terms, they will pull your credit no matter what when you apply and if they don't like what they see, they will turn you down. CCCs pay CRAs for lists of consumers that meet certain credit guidelines that they are interested in (give me a list of all individuals with a score higher than this, with util under this, etc.). Don't put any weight into what you receive in the mail.

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I agree that pre-approvals don't mean much (especially city), but I have also been feeling that in most cases, you have a good chance of approval (after all they have verified some of your stuff already).

I recently got approved for Chase BA visa signature in about 1 month from freedom approval and I had another inquiry from amex on my CR between that period (total in last 1 year on experian were about 10). The most interesting thing was the visa sig was instant approval while my freedom had taken 7 days.

I wouldn't have dared to pull the trigger for visa signature with my thin file.

[Anonymous]

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@thrasher865 wrote:

I don't see why he wouldn't be approved with what info you've given us, whether that is truly preapproved or not.  Does the offer say pre approved, not preselected?  If so, it's my understanding that this generally means you are at least extremely likely to be approved, if not guarunteed.

I would go for it if this is a card he wants.  When I was approved for Freedom my scores were in the low 700s, but it was also 2.5 years ago before this whole credit meltdown.  I would say it's a fairly safe bet.  How many inquiries?  Any recently opened accounts?

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Hey Thrasher,

The offer does say pre approved and they have been sending him one every week for like 6 months now. He doesnt have any inquiries and his last new account was last year in February from USAA, which he doesnt use, well actually never used it cuz of the lowly 1k CL. He doesnt have any inquiries on any reports at all. The only reason this is a good offer is because of the $150 cashback bonus, which is enticing - with the requirement being just the first purchase...

I dont know if the 150 is worth the new inquiry and new account... any advice? I wish there was a way of knowing if this is a done deal or what... He did apply with them in Sept 2009 and they declined due to "thin file" and told him to apply later on and for 6 months now they have been sending him offers...

Anyways --- I hope this info helps.. His total balances owed is like 3K on total available credit of 60K.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm... that changes things... if there is no difference in the pre approved or pre selected then it does not make sense to apply... oh well... I just thought since he apped with them 2009 and they declined, they might have been keeping an eye to see when he was eligible...

[vish1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey Thrasher,

The offer does say pre approved and they have been sending him one every week for like 6 months now. He doesnt have any inquiries and his last new account was last year in February from USAA, which he doesnt use, well actually never used it cuz of the lowly 1k CL. He doesnt have any inquiries on any reports at all. The only reason this is a good offer is because of the $150 cashback bonus, which is enticing - with the requirement being just the first purchase...

I dont know if the 150 is worth the new inquiry and new account... any advice? I wish there was a way of knowing if this is a done deal or what... He did apply with them in Sept 2009 and they declined due to "thin file" and told him to apply later on and for 6 months now they have been sending him offers...

Anyways --- I hope this info helps.. His total balances owed is like 3K on total available credit of 60K.

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This is kinda similar to what happened to me when I applied chase first. Then I applied again 8 months later (this jan) and was approved for 5k CL. My highest CL was 2250.

Another month down the line, I was approved for chase BA vis sig with 10.5 k (50k BA miles).

Anyway, I like the freedom card, cash back esp 5% revolving categories is really good.

Btw, the last line of your post is confusing me. He has 60k available credit with thin file? Is that all his credit or a mix of AU?

[BobbyJ]

Hello, I just received recent clarification from Citi, Chase and Navy Fed on this topic.  Pre-Approvals means that they have recently done a "soft" pull on your CR to check and see if you meet their criteria. As long as there are no major changes from the time of the recent "soft" you are most likely going to be approved for the offer they sent you.  If you are Pre-selected means that they are getting the info from the bureaus as to the fact you might be a good candidate but there is no guarantee you will get the card until they do a hard pull and verify the information.  Hope this helps!!!!

[vish1]

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@BobbyJ wrote:

Hello, I just received recent clarification from Citi, Chase and Navy Fed on this topic.  Pre-Approvals means that they have recently done a "soft" pull on your CR to check and see if you meet their criteria. As long as there are no major changes from the time of the recent "soft" you are most likely going to be approved for the offer they sent you.  If you are Pre-selected means that they are getting the info from the bureaus as to the fact you might be a good candidate but there is no guarantee you will get the card until they do a hard pull and verify the information.  Hope this helps!!!!

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Does citi do a pre approved? I have only heard of invitations to apply, but I could be wrong.